[Ktechlab-devel] Time for a clear route forward?

[Matthew Ayres]

Hello all you lovely devs!

I've been using KTechLab on and off for a while and, watching this
list, am somewhat concerned.  Not least because so few seem to
understand the code that's been written.  So, as someone not without
experience in software projects, I decided to add my tuppence worth.
It may be just that little, of course.

Mainly, I'm wondering whether serious consideration has ever been
given to full documentation of this project with flow charts and
what-have you.  The goals of KTechLab are lofty and surely, SURELY, it
would aide developers old & new to have a central set of documentation
detailing both the current state and function of the code, classes,
interfaces etc. as well as where it should be heading.  No?

Before I have seen such suggestions as I am about to make, in other
projects, be rejected out of hand but I would like to think that in
such a project as this it would be worth considering deeply.  My
suggestion is that code modification be put on hold for perhaps a
month or two (with a clear deadline laid down), while people work
together to create the documentation to which I allude.

Those who know enough about electronics, as well as those with a good
grasp on OOP and Good Practice, could brainstorm together and create a
fully formed set of flowcharts and related documents detailing how the
system should work.

Those who enjoy examining existing code could simultaneously create
current-state documentation.

Compare and contrast, solving the engine's issues all at once and
coding them to match.  Perhaps this would even be a good time to
separate the simulator components from the display components, so that
overhaul of the former and porting of the latter to KDE4 could proceed
at appropriate rates.  Then the GUI need only have a clear set of
interfaces with the engine, which also opens the doors for specialised
GUIs in Gnome and other environments.

Please, consider it.

-Matthew Ayres